Captiva ~Clive Picks At Lusa's Head & Cal Bites His Toes! Cal Misses Lusa & Lies Next To Her 2.17.24

Clive comes to the nest with a tiny stick and Cal mantles and thinks he has food and bites his toes! Clive heads over to where Lusa's body is and he starts to pick at her head. He is really unsure of what to do - you can see him looking at her face and he has recognition that this is his offspring but at the same time, his apex raptor instincts are telling him this might be prey. He pulls a few of Lusa's downy feathers out from her head and stops and just looks at her and then flies off. Clive will come back in the afternoon and go back to this spot in the nest with Lusa and he picks up the nesting material around her head. He may be conflicted on what to do at this point. It is possible that he or Connie might consume Lusa's body so we need to be prepared for that possible outcome.

On the other hand, Cal is still missing Lusa and he stands by her and looks down during the day wondering what happened. This is his first awareness of death...all he knows is instinctively something is wrong. Cal lies next to Lusa's body during the day and during the night, offering familiarity and comfort for him.

There is no signs of illness in Cal which is very good news. He is eating well and winging around the nest and doing what eaglets do at this age. ♥ Thank you for watching!

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

First Egg laid November 11, 2023 - Hatched December 17, 2023 - Named CE10 - Lusa
Second Egg laid November 14, 2023 - Hatched December 20, 2023 - Named CE11 - Cal

Many thanks to Window to Wildlife for bringing us this live cam again!
CAPTIVA ISLAND #baldeagle #captivaisland

Courtesy of Window to Wildlife live cam & chat    • Eaglet just hatched! | 1 Eaglet & 1 Egg | ...  

Window to Wildlife official web page: https://www.windowtowildlife.org/

Window to Wildlife facebook page:   / window2wildlife  

Background: Connie has been the resident eagle since 2009 & she is believed to be at least 20 years old. Clive is the resident male & has been around since 2021. His age is unknown.

Last season, Connie laid two eggs but only one hatched - CE9 (Connick). Connick began to lose flight feathers and then on April 4th 2023 fell from the nest. He was rescued by CROW & taken to Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. After months of evaluation and treatments, Connick continued to drop feathers and has been named non releasable. He will be transferred to the National Zoo early next year and live out his live as an ambassador bald eagle.

Location: The nest is located on Captiva Island off the coast of Fort Myers Florida. After Hurricane Ian destroyed the nest in 2022, Window to Wildlife built a new nest in the same tree and Connie and Clive returned to use the nest.